28,000 rail fare evasion prosecutions brought by Northern and Transpennine quashed
Tens of thousands of rail passengers who wrongly faced court action for dodging rail fares have had their prosecutions quashed.
Northern Rail brought 28,631 prosecutions against passengers using the single justice procedure (SJP) between August 6 2020 and May 21 2024, despite not being permitted to do so.
TransPennine Express also brought 41 prosecutions in January 2024.
On Thursday Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring declared them null and void during a two-minute hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Further hearings will take place regarding thousands of other train fare prosecutions.
Northern and TransPennine Express welcomed Thursday’s outcome and apologised for the “errors”.
The SJP was established in 2015 to allow magistrates to decide on minor offences. When a defendant pleads guilty, they do not need to attend court, and therefore most cases are heard in private.
Rail companies were permitted to use the SJP in 2016 to privately prosecute fare evaders, but many have been brought under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, which is not allowed.
In a ruling on six "test" cases in August, Mr Goldspring said: "They should never have been brought through that process. This is, to my mind, a paradigm nullity."
Among those who were wrongly prosecuted under the SJP system was Christian Waters, from West Yorkshire.
He was unable to buy a ticket at his local station, Kirkstall Forge in Leeds, in 2022 because the machine was broken at the time.
He received a penalty fare from Northern and ended up being taken to court.
Christian told ITV News in August: "I thought I'd either get [a ticket] on the train or the excess fares booth in Leeds. And then when I didn't see a conductor on the train, I got to the excess fair window there was a group of revenue inspectors and they pulled me out of the queue and they gave me a penalty fare.
"I felt really annoyed, it's not the first time the machine hadn't been working and I'd felt like a criminal."
In identical statements, Northern and TransPennine said: "Customers affected by the issues raised in court will be contacted directly by HM Courts and Tribunal Service. We are unable to respond to individual queries at this time.
"Northern remains committed to ensuring that all our customers are treated fairly, which means ensuring all passengers who board our trains have a valid ticket."
Affected cases were also prosecuted by Avanti West Coast, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Arriva Rail Northern, Merseyrail and C2C, the Courts and Tribunals Service said.
The department said that those affected should wait to be contacted directly by the Courts and Tribunals Service about their case, including if they have paid a financial penalty.
A Government spokesperson said: “While fare evasion should be tackled, the right process should be followed at all times.
“A consultation examining the Single Justice Procedure and regulation of private prosecutors will drive up standards.”
Law Society of England and Wales president Richard Atkinson said: “We welcome the Government’s commitment to review the Single Justice Procedure as we are aware concerns have been raised for some time about how fairly the fast-track system operates, particularly in regard to vulnerable people.”
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